FM Nirmala Sitharaman Backs Digital Data Access For Tax Investigations: Here's Why
4 days, 3 hours ago

FM Nirmala Sitharaman Backs Digital Data Access For Tax Investigations: Here's Why

ABP News  

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has strongly defended tax authorities' access to digital records, calling it a crucial tool in tackling tax evasion and financial fraud. How Digital Clues Exposed Major Tax Frauds The Finance Minister highlighted multiple high-profile cases where access to digital communication and location data played a decisive role in uncovering tax fraud: Rs 250 Crore Undisclosed Wealth: Officials cracked encrypted messages to expose networks involved in large-scale tax evasion, leading to the recovery of unaccounted cash. Rs 200 Crore Fake Billing Scam: WhatsApp conversations led tax authorities to a syndicate issuing bogus invoices and helped identify the final beneficiaries. Manipulated Capital Gains Scam: A case involving land sale proceeds of Rs 150 crore being fraudulently reduced to Rs 2 crore was unearthed through digital financial records and WhatsApp communications.

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History of this topic

Will the new Income Tax Bill give govt access to your encrypted Whatsapp chats?
Trending News
4 days, 1 hour ago

Will the new Income Tax Bill give govt access to your encrypted Whatsapp chats?

Live Mint  

Finance Bill 2025: The government has proposed to strengthen legal provisions to track digital assets under the new Income Tax Bill, 2025, as the previous Income Tax Act did not provide adequate legal backing for investigating digital assets. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while discussing the Income Tax Bill 2025 that because the previous Income Tax Act did not provide …

‘WhatsApp messages helped uncover ₹200 crore in tax evasion’: Nirmala Sitharaman defends Income Tax Bill
Trending News
4 days, 7 hours ago

‘WhatsApp messages helped uncover ₹200 crore in tax evasion’: Nirmala Sitharaman defends Income Tax Bill

Hindustan Times  

Citing WhatsApp messages that helped unearth ₹200 crore in unaccounted money linked to crypto assets, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday defended the provisions of the new Income Tax Bill, 2025. Addressing the Lok Sabha, Nirmala Sitharaman said granting tax authorities access to digital records is crucial for addressing tax evasion and financial fraud. WhatsApp communication helped unearth ₹200 …

New income tax law gives sweeping powers to tax officials, violates right to privacy: Congress
Trending News
3 weeks, 1 day ago

New income tax law gives sweeping powers to tax officials, violates right to privacy: Congress

The Hindu  

The Congress on Friday alleged that the new income tax law gives tax officials sweeping powers, which allow them to violate the fundamental right to privacy. Gurdeep Sappal, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee and coordinator in the Congress president’s office, said that the proposed law gives officials access to the email, social media, and bank accounts of …

New Income Tax Bill, 2025: Congress warns of ’surveillance state’ under Modi govt, says ‘They need NO proof’
Trending News
3 weeks, 2 days ago

New Income Tax Bill, 2025: Congress warns of ’surveillance state’ under Modi govt, says ‘They need NO proof’

Live Mint  

The Congress has alleged that the new Income Tax Bill, 2025, grants tax authorities sweeping powers to access taxpayers' emails, social media, and bank accounts, raising privacy concerns and paving the way for India to become a surveillance state. Under Modi's new income tax law, the government is quietly giving tax officials the power to break into your digital life. …

New Income Tax Bill Proposes To Allow IT Officers To Access Social Media, E-mail Accounts Of Assessees During Scrutiny
Trending News
3 weeks, 3 days ago

New Income Tax Bill Proposes To Allow IT Officers To Access Social Media, E-mail Accounts Of Assessees During Scrutiny

Live Law  

Recently, the new Income Tax Bill 2025 was introduced in Parliament. Although touted as a step to make Income tax law in India simpler, the Bill contains some provisions which may disturb taxpayers by infringing on their right to privacy. One such provision in the new Bill would allow the Income tax department to access the email, trading account, social …

Income Tax officials can track emails, social media from 2026: Here is what it would mean to you
3 weeks, 3 days ago

Income Tax officials can track emails, social media from 2026: Here is what it would mean to you

India TV News  

Income Tax officials can track emails, social media from 2026: Here is what it would mean to you Starting April 1, 2026, Indian income tax officials will have the legal authority to access emails, social media, and online transactions under a new law aimed at curbing tax evasion. From April 1, 2026, income tax officials will officially have the mandate …

Privacy A Thing Of Past? Tax Officers Could Now Get Full Access To Digital Records
3 weeks, 3 days ago

Privacy A Thing Of Past? Tax Officers Could Now Get Full Access To Digital Records

ABP News  

Income tax officers in India will now be able to access the digital accounts of individuals if deemed necessary. The new norms of the Income Tax Bill, 2025 expand the authority of tax officers and allows them to gain access to the social media accounts, emails, trading platforms, online investments, and bank accounts of individuals if they suspect tax evasion. …

New income tax bill proposes allowing officers access to your email, social media
Top News
3 weeks, 4 days ago

New income tax bill proposes allowing officers access to your email, social media

India Today  

The new income tax bill has recently been in the news, and not for the reasons taxpayers would hope. Right now, tax officers can ask for access to laptops, hard drives, and emails, but since the current tax law doesn’t explicitly mention digital records, such demands often face legal pushback. As per clause 247 of the new income tax bill, …

New income tax bill provisions grant wide search powers to authorities, make privacy of taxpayers vulnerable
Trending News
3 weeks, 5 days ago

New income tax bill provisions grant wide search powers to authorities, make privacy of taxpayers vulnerable

Live Mint  

On 13 February, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the much-awaited bill to replace the existing Income-Tax Act, 1961. The definition of virtual digital space has therefore been introduced, with wide powers granted to the authorities to access these digital spaces while investigating tax evasion. First of all, while data assimilators such as the Annual Information Return, Form 26AS, and the …

Mint Quick Edit | Income tax: How close should authorities look?
1 month, 1 week ago

Mint Quick Edit | Income tax: How close should authorities look?

Live Mint  

While India’s new Income Tax Bill broadly deserves praise for attempting to simplify the law, one provision could ruffle feathers. It makes it a must for an assessee to share computer access codes during search and seizure operations and gives taxmen authority to access the taxpayer’s “virtual digital space." One’s “virtual digital space" can conceivably be stretched to cover plenty …

‘No such move…’: IT department denies misuse of DigiYatra data for cracking down on tax evaders
2 months, 4 weeks ago

‘No such move…’: IT department denies misuse of DigiYatra data for cracking down on tax evaders

Hindustan Times  

Amid news reports claiming that the DigiYatra platform's facial recognition data will be used to crack down on tax evaders, the income tax department clarified that such reports were false. In a post on its official X handle, the I-T department stated, "It is seen that news articles have appeared stating that Digiyatra data will be used to crack down …

Will govt use Digiyatra data to crack down on tax evaders? Income tax department clarifies
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Will govt use Digiyatra data to crack down on tax evaders? Income tax department clarifies

Live Mint  

The Income Tax Department of India, under the Ministry of Finance, issued a clarification on Monday, December 30, over concerns about news reports claiming that the tax regulator will use Digiyatra data to crack down on evaders. The regulator said that the IT Department has not made such a move to use the data collected from the airport entry interface …

Used DigiYatra? IT department now has your entire details and will check it for tax evasion, says report
Trending News
3 months ago

Used DigiYatra? IT department now has your entire details and will check it for tax evasion, says report

India Today  

In an eyebrow-raising report, The New Indian Express recently claimed that India’s Income Tax Department is leveraging passenger data collected via the DigiYatra app to identify potential tax evaders. The report has sparked concerns about privacy, surveillance, and the scope of government data usage, with the claim being contested by DigiYatra's CEO, Suresh Khadakbhavi. However, the recent report suggests that …

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 passes in Lok Sabha; govt. shrugs off exemptions
1 year, 7 months ago

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 passes in Lok Sabha; govt. shrugs off exemptions

The Hindu  

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, was passed in the Lok Sabha in a voice vote, amid continuous sloganeering from the Opposition benches. The Bill, now headed to the Upper House, also amends the Right to Information Act, 2005 to remove public interest exemptions on disclosing personal information. “If the police is pursuing an offender somewhere, will they concern …

BBC India tax raids: What is a tax ‘survey’ and what does it mean for BBC
2 years, 1 month ago

BBC India tax raids: What is a tax ‘survey’ and what does it mean for BBC

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Indian Express newspaper reported that the searches – …

Explained | What is the debate around the legality of cryptocurrencies after the announcement of a 30% tax?
3 years, 1 month ago

Explained | What is the debate around the legality of cryptocurrencies after the announcement of a 30% tax?

The Hindu  

The story so far: In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a 30% tax on income earned from transfer of virtual digital assets. At a press conference after presenting the Budget, Ms. Sitharaman said consultation is underway with stakeholders on digital assets, adding that there is no clarity yet on how the Government of India will regulate cryptocurrencies. …

Ensure Newslaundry's Data Is Not Leaked: Delhi High Court Tells Income Tax Department Following Survey & Seizure
3 years, 6 months ago

Ensure Newslaundry's Data Is Not Leaked: Delhi High Court Tells Income Tax Department Following Survey & Seizure

Live Law  

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Income Tax Department to seek instructions on a petition filed by news portal Newslaundry and it's CEO Abhinandan Sekhri, apprehending leakage of the data seized during a recent IT survey in their office.In the plea filed through Advocate Nipun Katyal, it has been stated by the petitioners that they apprehend their private …

Tax harassment will end, assures Sitharaman
5 years, 7 months ago

Tax harassment will end, assures Sitharaman

Live Mint  

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured India Inc. that businesses will not face any harassment by tax officials and that a new system has been put in place to make officials accountable for their communication with the assessee. Sitharaman’s assurances seems to be a direct fallout of industry leaders speaking out about tax officials harassing businesses. The minister said …

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